December 13, 2014

PART 1 - CONTRADICTIONS DEBUNKED...…

So I got into a small via email debate with a famous Atheist known as Dan Barker who was once a Pastor. I debunked his book that George, (the famous atheist of Yonge & Dundas) recommended to me. I saw Dan Barker's faith was Lukewarm from the start and that he had false doctrine giving him a bad foundation of faith... Nothing to stand on... As Jesus says in, Luke 6:49. I contacted Dan Barker, to my surprise he replied twice. He attacks God by saying God contradicts Himself... Let's see if this is true...

CONTRADICTIONS DEBUNKED...

Losing Faith In Faith: From Preacher To Atheist by Dan Barker - Chapter 23.

1.) Should we kill? Exodus 20:13, Leviticus 24:17 vs. Exodus 32:27, 1 Samuel 6:19, 1 Samuel 15:2-8, Numbers 15:36, Hosea 13:16.

All of these were an act of Self-Defense, which is righteous. Also, I think many of the Israelites took God saying, "They will be put to death," literally, instead of Spiritually put to death.

Best example is the adulterous woman in John 8:1-11 where Jesus stops the Pharisees from stoning her, even though it was the Law of Moses, I trust God's own words, Jesus is God.

2.) Should we tell lies? Exodus 20:16, Proverbs 12:22 vs. 1 Kings 22:23, 2 Thessalonians 2:11

1 Kings 22:23 ~ 20 And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner. 21 And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him. 22 And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade [him], and prevail also: go forth, and do so."

So it seems a demon stepped forth to be a lying spirit to Ahab, the demon already had legal rights to Ahab's body because he was an evil king (1 Kings 16:30).

Some lying has shown to be justified... Lying to protect like the lie the Hebrew midwives tell Pharaoh seems to result in the Lord's blessing on them (Exodus 1:15-21), and it probably saved the lives of many Hebrew babies. Another example is Rahab's lie to protect the Israelite spies in Joshua 2:5. Again it's self-defense to save lives, lying for any other reason is sin.

3.) Should we steal? Exodus 20:15, Leviticus 19:13 vs. Exodus 3:22, Exodus 12:35-36, Luke 19:29-34.

Re: Exodus 3:22, Exodus 12:35... The Egyptians stole from the Israelites and treated them unfairly, they were taking back was theirs. But I do not believe they were "stealing" for it says "Borrow."

To steal is to acquire something of value from its rightful owner without consent; to borrow requires us to ask or beg for something, as the Israelites did.

Re: Luke 19:29... The Owners of the colt were Israelites and since they did not try to stop the Disciples, they let them take the colt thus having permission, not stealing. They were probably honored that their Lord used their colt to come into Jerusalem. To add, who were the people that told the rest of the city to welcome Jesus with palms? Most likely the owners of the colt that were the first to know Jesus was coming into Jerusalem.

4.) Shall we keep the sabbath? Exodus 20:8, Exodus 31:15, Numbers 15:32, 36 vs. Isaiah 1:13, John 5:16, Colossians 2:16

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy... Jesus, God Himself was persecuted for doing work on the Sabbath, His work was holy though. When it says do no work, in those days was to be reserved to be a Holy day. Being lazy, slothful isn't keeping the Sabbath Holy.

Mark 3:4 ~ And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.

Luke 13:15 ~ The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?

Jesus taught that we should do good on Sabbath. As the original commandment commanded to keep Sabbath Holy. If you don't do work to give water to your animals, they will die. Killing. And that's not Holy.

5.) Shall we make graven images? Exodus 20:4, Leviticus 26:1, Deuteronomy 27:15 vs. Exodus 25:18, 1 Kings 7:15-16, 23-25

"You shall not worship them or serve them." The command of God to not make images concerned objects of worship, not objects used for decorative or educational purposes as Exodus 25:18 and 1 Kings 7:15 was for. Not worship, but decorative and educational.

6.) Are we saved through works? Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 3:20,28, Galatians 2:16 vs. James 2:24, Matthew 19:16-21

We are not saved by Works, but are saved by Faith. Our Faith must be a Work-based Faith though, if we have True Faith we will do Works out of love for God. If the Holy Spirit dwells in you, you will produce works naturally.

Ephesians 2:10 ~ "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."

7.) Should good works be seen? Matthew 5:16, I Peter 2:12 vs. Matthew 6:1-4, Matthew 23:3-5

As it says in Matthew 23:5 ~ "But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,"

So do not do works to earn people's approval, but do work to earn God's approval. God sees all works, if doing works in public feeds the ego, it is better to do works in private. That is the teaching. This is to keep people humble.

8.) Should we own slaves? Leviticus 25:45-46, Genesis 9:25, Exodus 21:2-7, Joel 3:8, Luke 12:47-48, Colossians 3:22 vs. Isaiah 58:6, Matthew 23:10

Notice that slavery was okay in the beginning, but then the right to own slaves was taken away because Masters did not treat Slaves with compassion and fairness as God intended. Jeremiah 34:10. This is why in later Scripture slavery is abolished. Luke 12:47 was a parable; Jesus speaking in the Spiritual sense.

Re: Leviticus 25:45... Let's read down a little further down to Leviticus 25:53 ~ "[And] as a yearly hired servant shall he be with him: [and the other] shall not rule with rigour over him in thy sight."

So the first allowance to have slaves was to not treat them with rigour, not to treat them harshly.

9.) Does God change his mind? Malachi 3:6, Numbers 23:19, Ezekiel 24:14, James 1:17 vs. Exodus 32:14, Genesis 6:6-7, Jonah 3:10

Re: Genesis 6:6, Jonah 3:10, Exodus 32:14... These verses speak of the Lord "repenting" of something and seem to contradict the doctrine of God's immutability. However, close examination of these passages reveals that these are not truly indications that God is capable of changing. In the original language, the word that is translated as "repent" or "relent" is the Hebrew expression "to be sorry for." Being sorry for something does not mean that a change has occurred; it simply means there is regret for something that has taken place.

Consider Genesis 6:6: "…the LORD was grieved that He had made man on the earth." This verse even goes on to say "His heart was filled with pain." This verse declares that God had regret for creating man. However, obviously He did not reverse His decision. Instead, through Noah, He allowed man to continue to exist. The fact that we are alive today is proof that God did not change His mind about creating man. Also, the context of this passage is a description of the sinful state in which man was living, and it is man's sinfulness that triggered God's sorrow, not man's existence. Consider Jonah 3:10: "…He had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction He had threatened." Again, the same Hebrew word is used, which translates "to be sorry for." Why was God sorry for what He had planned for the Ninevites? Because they had a change in heart and as a result changed their ways from disobedience to obedience. God is entirely consistent. God was going to judge Nineveh because of its evil. However, Nineveh repented and changed its ways. As a result, God had mercy on Nineveh, which is entirely consistent with His character. God does not change, Humans change.

10.) Are we punished for our parents' sins?

Exodus 20:5, Exodus 34:6-7, I Corinthians 15:22 vs. Ezekiel 18:20, Deuteronomy 24:16

Keeping Exodus 20:5 in context, we notice right away that God is referring to the sin of idolatry. God considered idolatry to be an extremely treacherous betrayal of a sacred trust. Idolaters were traitors to God's theocracy. Idolatry had a way of ingraining itself in a culture. Children raised in such an environment would keep the tradition going and practice similar idolatry, thus falling into the established pattern of disobedience. The effect of one disobedient generation was that wickedness would take root so deeply that it took several generations to reverse.

The implication of Exodus 20:5 is that children are akin to their parents. A new generation will tend to repeat the sins of their fathers. Therefore, God "punishing the children" is simply another way of saying that the children are repeating the fathers' sins. The tendency to repeat the mistakes of history is especially strong in an idolatrous culture.

11.) Is God good or evil? Psalm 145:9, Deuteronomy 32:4 vs. Isaiah 45:7, Lamentations 3:38, Jeremiah 18:11, Ezekiel 20:25-26

"Evil" or "Ra" in Hebrew means, "Misfortune" or a Calamity, this isn't moral evil such as sin, but punishment for human wickedness, reaping what we sow or "Karma" as Eastern Philosophy would put it. If you do good, you have good happen. If you do bad, you have bad happen.

I also find it interesting the Hebrew word for "evil" is "Ra" whom Ra is an Egyptian god who was merged with the god Horus (who sliced off his mother's head, Isis) as Re-Horakhty ("Ra, who is Horus of the Two Horizons"). He was believed to rule in all parts of the created world: the sky, the earth, and the underworld. Take this as you will.

12.) Does God tempt people? James 1:13 vs. Genesis 22:1

In Genesis 22:1 when it says, "Tempt" it is the word, "Nacah" in Hebrew which means to, "Prove, try, test." Therefore, it was a test that God offered to Abraham, not a temptation to sin. God wouldn't have allowed Abraham to sin, God just wanted to see if Abraham was truly loyal.

13.) Is God peaceable? Romans 15:33, Isaiah 2:4 vs. Exodus 15:3, Joel 3:9-10

Yes, He is, but He goes to war against wickedness. If Hitler had not been defeated by World War II, how many more millions would have been killed? If a robber breaks into your home will you allow him to kill you or will you protect yourself and your family? It is obvious that God justifies Self-Defence, as these were the only reasons God was a warrior. He doesn't wish to kill, just as you wouldn't wish to kill... But you will for the sake of wife and children, I presume.

Hebrew word literally means "the intentional, premeditated killing of another person with malice; murder."

14.) Was Jesus peaceable? John 14:27, Acts 10:36, Luke 2:14 vs. Matthew 10:34, Luke 22:36

Refer to my previous response in point 14.) because Jesus is God.

15.) Was Jesus trustworthy? John 8:14 vs. John 5:31

Re: John 5:31... the context is Jesus speaking about how He depends upon the Father and how He is seeking the will of the Father. Jesus, however is the Father, Jesus has the Holy Spirit, but they count as witnesses. Jesus is reflecting on the Old Testament law that didn't allow the testimony of one person to condemn another to death. Two witnesses were needed to establish the fact.

John 8:14... He was speaking of being the light of the word and the Pharisees accused Him of bearing witness of Himself. Jesus was simply telling the truth that if He did, it would be true because He comes from the Father, He is the Father, all knowing. They were questioning God's own authority.

16.) Shall we call people names? Matthew 5:22 vs. Matthew 23:17, Psalm 14:1

When Jesus said in Matthew 5:22 that you should not call anyone a fool, He was speaking of those who were unrighteously angry. That is why Jesus mentions anger in this verse. There is a righteous anger which is not sinful (Ephesians 4:26). As well as unrighteous anger that is sinful (James 1:20).

When God is angry with someone, He is always righteous in His anger. Jesus, being God in flesh, can righteously be angry with people and pronounce upon them the foolishness of their deeds because it was truth. Also, undoubtedly, Jesus knew Psalm 14:1 which says, "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God' . . ." Jesus didn't forget the well-known verse; and God is not wrong for calling someone a fool, the Pharisees because they didn't believe Jesus was God.

As a result, we see that the condemnation by Jesus regarding calling someone a fool is in the context of doing it out of unrighteous anger, which does not fit the later citations of Jesus labeling the hypocritical, cynical Pharisees as fools.

17.) Has anyone seen God? John 1:18, Exodus 33:20, John 6:46, I John 4:12 vs. Genesis 32:30, Exodus 33:11, Isaiah 6:1, Job 42:5

Re: Genesis 32:30... Jacob saw God appearing as an angel; he did not truly see God. Samson's parents were terrified when they realized they had seen God (Judges 13:22), but they had only seen Him appearing as an angel. Jesus was God in the flesh (John 1:1,14) so when people saw Him, they were seeing God. So, yes, God can be "seen" and many people have "seen" God. At the same time, no one has ever seen God revealed in all His glory. In our fallen human condition, if God were to fully reveal Himself to us, we would be consumed and destroyed because His spiritual frequency is so high for our senses to comprehend. A finite being cannot fully comprehend the presence of a infinite being. Therefore, God veils Himself and appears in forms in which we can "see" Him. So we've seen pieces of God's Spirit, but not His full Spirit. This is different than seeing God with all His glory and holiness displayed. People have seen visions of God, images of God, and appearances of God, but no one on Earth has ever seen God in all His fullness. As it reveals in Exodus 33, Moses seen the back of God, never the face of God or else His power would destroy us.

18.) How many Gods are there? Deuteronomy 6:4 vs. Genesis 1:26, Genesis 3:22, I John 5:7

Okay... One. John 10:30 ~ "I and my Father are one."

Jesus throughout the New Testament reveals Himself to be God, the Father in flesh. "Emmanuel" meaning "God with us."

John 14:8-11 ~ "Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou [then], Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I [am] in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake."

John 8:24 ~ "Thus I told you that you will die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins."

John 1:1-3 ~ "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made."

John 1:14 ~ "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."

Jesus is the Creator of the Earth.. Colossians 1:16, John 1:3.

The Son is Holy, He has a Spirit that is Holy. The Father is Holy, He has a Spirit that is Holy. So both the Father and the Son are the Holy Spirit. The same Spirit, one Spirit. The Father had a piece of His Spirit go into Mary's womb and Jesus was born, God Himself.

Matthew 1:18 ~ "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost (Father)."

19.) Are we all sinners? Romans 3:23, Romans 3:10, Psalm 14:3 vs. Job 1:1, Genesis 7:1, Luke 1:6

Re: Romans 3:23... Doesn't that reveal the answer right there? Yes, Job was Righteous, many prophets and people in the Bible were described as Righteous because they strive after perfection, picking up their cross, denying their sin daily. Matthew 6:24. They were sinners, we all sin thus falling short of God because He has never sinned. We are called righteous when we give up our sin filled lives, consciously sinning and not caring if we sin... Changing to trying not to sin. The people who strive and try not to sin are called righteous even if they sinned in their past. Romans 6 is the best read on this. We are a new creation. 2 Corinthians 5:17.

20.) How old was Ahaziah? II Kings 8:26 vs. II Chronicles 22:2

He was 22 years old. Ahaziah's being "a son of 42 years" in his reigning is seen to refer to his being a son of the dynasty of Omri which was in its 42nd year. Putting the two Scriptures together reveals that Ahaziah was 22 years old when he began to reign during the 42nd year of the dynasty of Omri.

21.) Should we swear an oath? Numbers 30:2, Genesis 21:22-24,31, Hebrews 6:13-17, Genesis 22:15-19, Genesis 31:53, Judges 11:30-39 vs. Matthew 5:34-37, James 5:12

When Jesus admonished Believers not to swear at all in Matthew 5, His caution in verse 34-35 can be seen as a warning not to bring condemnation down on one's self by obligation to do something or to perform something that was impossible or improbable for a person to fulfill. People in Jesus' day went about swearing to all sorts of things which they then later failed to fulfill. The same is obviously true today. In addition, when a person swear's "by God" on an issue, what they are saying may be completely outside of what God's will is for a given situation.

The Lord's warning in verse 36 is different then His warning in verse 34-35 however. It is akin to taking what is commonly referred to as a "blood" oath. How do we know? Jesus says do not "swear by thou head." This is the type that occultists swear. It gives a sort of legal right for other humans (and demonic forces alike) to bring harm to you if you fail at keeping whatever it is you swear. More so, the moment you swear an oath, the penalty of which is your own life, you have sinned against God's word and are game for the Enemy's intrusion in your life circumstances. "Blood" oaths give the Devil spiritual authority to operate in a person's life. It is such oaths that have bound and brought deception, spiritual blindness and demonic curses into the lives and homes of Freemasons.

22.) When was Jesus crucified? Mark 15:25 vs. John 19:14-15

First off, John was using the Roman measurement of time when dealing with the crucifixion. Matthew, Mark, and Luke used the Hebrew system of measuring a day: from sundown to sunrise. The Roman system was from midnight to midnight, as we use Today in U.S.A.

So, if the sun comes up at 6am which would be the First Hour, 9am would be the Third Hour as Mark describes. This is when Jesus was crucified, 9am. This is according to Hebrew Time.

John, using Roman time said Jesus was before Pilate at the Sixth Hour, being 6am, add 6 hours from Midnight. So He was before Pilate at Sunrise and crucified at 9am. Remember, He went through floggings before Crucifixion.

23.) Shall we obey the law? I Peter 2:13, Matthew 22:21, Romans 13:1-7, Titus 3:1.
vs. Acts 5:29


Re: 1 Peter 2:13... It clearly reads "for the Lord's sake". If the ordinance is Godly, submit to it.

Re: Mathew 22:21... Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's... What really belongs to Caesar? The idolatry... The Money... The wickedness... Etc. That is not God's, but Caesar's.

Re: Romans 13:1-7... Ordained of God, yes. Not all Politicians/Government is ordained by God, but they come into power because of the demonic. It goes on to say in Verse 9 what to not do as Christians. God's Law is above man's Law, God's Law comes first to follow. We may not transgress that Law.

Re: Titus 3:1... Says right in the verse in question itself... To be ready to every "GOOD WORK". The laws of God... Good works.

God has written His law on our hearts (Romans 2:15) but it is man's self-righteousness that gets in the way and that is what creates unjust, unfair, and sinful laws.

24.) How many animals on the ark? Genesis 6:19, Genesis 7:8-9, Genesis 7:15 vs. Genesis 7:2

Genesis 6:19-20 simply instructs Noah to preserve two of every kind. Genesis 7:2-3 is additional information where seven of the clean animals were to be taken and two of every other kind. The reason for this is that the extra animals were for sacrifice. "Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar." (Gen. 8:20).

Logically, to have seven pairs also means that there are two pairs since the two are included in the seven. If one verse said take only one pair and another verse said seven pairs, that would be a contradiction.

25.) Were women and men created equal? Genesis 1:27 vs. Genesis 2:18-23

First of all, Genesis 2:18... Why is her being a help, make her not his equal? Instead of seeing the Helper as lower class, see her as essential as the Bible teaches.

1 Peter 3:7 ~ "Husbands, in the same way, treat your wives with consideration as the weaker partners and show them honor as fellow heirs of the grace of life. In this way nothing will hinder your prayers."

Compare...

1 Corinthians 12:22 ~ "On the contrary, those members that seem to be weaker are essential,"

Also, let's not forget, Galatians 3:28 ~ "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."

Women have a role. Men have a role. A General in an Army has a role, so does a Cadet. One cannot operate without the other, so we are equal. As it teaches in 1 Corinthians 12, to operate with best harmony, you need your eyes, feet, etc. even though they are small, each a small role, they play a big part in our whole body's functioning.

26.) Were trees created before humans? Genesis 1:12-31 vs. Genesis 2:5-9

Genesis 1:12 ~ "And the earth brought forth grass, [and] herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed [was] in itself, after his kind: and God saw that [it was] good."

Genesis 1:27 ~ "So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."

So, God created Plants before man.

Genesis 2:5-7... "5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and [there was] not a man to till the ground. 6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. 7 And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."

So, plants were created before man. God needed somebody to attend to taking care of the plants. Plants before man.

Genesis 2:8-9 ~ "8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil."

Okay, so God created more plants. To conclude, God created Plants, then created Man, then created more Plants. Simple.

27.) Did Michal have children? II Samuel 6:23 vs. II Samuel 21:8

The two phrases, "she bore to" and "she brought up," are actually the same in the Hebrew (Yalad). When the translators realized the glitch that Michal had no children according to 2 Samual 6:23, they tried to "fix" the issue by translating this as "she brought up," even though the Hebrew is identical for both italicized sections and in the same Qal tense, which means "bore" or "begat"— and not "brought up." So Michal had no children of her own, but raised Adrial's children.

2 Samuel 21:8 ~ "But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite:"

Emphasis on, "brought up for Adrial,". Just because she brought up, raised Adrial's children doesn't mean she had children of her own. She didn't give birth to children herself, or that would be contradicting. Hebrew is a Sentence usage dependent language.

28.) How many stalls did Solomon have? I Kings 4:26 vs. II Chronicles 9:25

The two verses do not contradict because they describe different types of stalls. The stalls in 1 Kings 4:26 were "of horses" which were used for chariots and by horsemen. Nothing in this verse says that these stalls were for the chariots. On the other hand, the stalls in 2 Chronicles 9:25 were for "horses and chariots". Such a stall to house both horses and chariots would not have been as numerous as stalls to house just horses because there is always a smaller ratio of chariots to horses.

40,000 Stalls of Horses, 4,000 Stalls for Horses and Chariots. Meaning 10 x 4,000 = 40,000. There's 10 horses pulling 1 Chariot.

29.) Did Paul's men hear a voice? Acts 9:7 vs. Acts 22:9

Paul heard a voice as Jesus communicated directly with him. The men with Paul heard the voice speaking to Paul but, to them, it was just an unintelligible sound. They heard something. But, since they could not understand what the voice said, it was nothing more than a sound—in other words, they couldn't really "hear" what Jesus' was saying. They heard, but didn't understand.

The Greek word, "akouō" used in both verses means, "to hear," but also means, "to understand". So again, it is a sentence usage issue. This one word can have different meanings. I can hear someone speaking another language, but I cannot understand. 

30.) Is God omnipotent? Jeremiah 32:27, Matthew 19:26 vs. Judges 1:19

Yes, He is. Judges 1:19 is referring to Judah, that Judah couldn't drive out the inhabitants in the Valley. Referring to Judah, not to God.

As for the battle itself, there is no promise in the Bible that the Jews would win every battle. For any number of reasons, Judah was in constant rebellion, the Lord allowed the people of Judah only a limited success at that time and they were unable to conquer the people of the Valley.

31.) Does God live in light? I Timothy 6:15-16, James 1:17, John 12:35, Job 18:18, Daniel 2:22 vs. I Kings 8:12, II Samuel 22:12, Psalm 18:11, Psalm 97:1-2

Bible uses the terms "light" and "darkness" in several ways and in a variety of contexts. God's dwelling place in the spiritual realm of the heaven of heavens is filled with "unapproachable light" (1 Timothy 6:16), because His unrestrained glory illuminates it (Revelation 21:23). God made light in the physical Universe during the six-day Creation and "called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night" (Genesis 1:5). He made the Sun, Moon, and stars on day four of Creation, thus making Him the "Father of lights" (James 1:17). Jesus was miraculously transfigured before three of His apostles and "His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light" (Matthew 17:2). The psalmist referred to light in the sense of divine instruction: "The entrance of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple" (119:130). Conversely, the psalmist referred to those who "do not know, nor...understand," as those who "walk about in darkness" (82:5). While addressing the subjects of sin and righteousness, the apostle John used the terms light and darkness symbolically: "God is light (i.e., holy) and in Him is no darkness (i.e., sin)" (1 John 1:5). This same apostle referred to Jesus as "the Light" throughout his gospel account (1:4-9; 8:12; 9:5; 12:34-36,46), and Matthew recorded that Jesus spoke of His disciples as "the light of the world" (5:14-16), reflectors of His righteousness.

The passage in 1 Kings 8:12 ("The Lord said that he would dwell in thick darkness"—KJV) is not discussing God's dwelling place in the heaven of heavens. First Kings 8:12-13, along with 2 Chronicles 5:13-14, discuss God's presence in the physical temple of God in Jerusalem. Just as "the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle" in the days of Moses (Exodus 40:34), so "the house of the Lord [the temple], was filled with a cloud" (2 Chronicles 5:13). Similarly, the highly poetic wording in Psalm 18 and 1 Samuel 22 (a quotation of Psalm 18) pictures God, not on His majestic, glorious throne in heaven, but as One Who "came down" from heaven (Psalm 18:9), "flew upon the wings of the wind" (18:10), and delivered his servant David from his enemies while making "darkness His secret place" and "His canopy...dark waters" (18:11)

32.) Does God accept human sacrifice? Deuteronomy 12:31 22:2, Exodus 22:29, Judges 11:30-39, II Samuel 21:8-14, Hebrews 10:10-12, I Corinthians 5:7

Re: Genesis 22:2... That's Abraham's test, wasn't a Human Sacrifice, an angel stopped Abraham before Isaac was killed.

Re: Exodus 22:29... This wasn't intended to mean that the Israelites were supposed to sacrifice their firstborn sons to God. Not to kill them. In fact, Exodus 13:13 says, "And all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem." To redeem meant that the Israelites were to give to the Lord five skekels of silver when the firstborn son was one month old (Numbers 18:16). Moses explained that it was a memorial of the process by which God delivered the Israelites from Egyptian bondage (Exodus 13:14-15).

Re: Judges 11:30-39... Again, not a Human sacrifice, not killing. His daughter just remained a virgin and God never asked that of Jephthah.

Re: 2 Samuel 21:8-14... Notice that the text indicates that the ones who were hanged were "men" (2 Samuel 21:6), who would have been old enough to be responsible for their moral decisions. Furthermore, notice that the text indicates that Saul's "house" or "household" was a bloodthirsty house (2 Samuel 21:1), apparently implying that many of his relatives were involved in his murderous plots. In 2 Samuel 16:5-14, the Bible introduces a wicked man named Shimei who was "from the family of the house of Saul" (2 Samuel 16:5). And Saul's wickedness is documented throughout the book of 1 Samuel. Could it be that Saul's descendants who were hanged had followed in the wicked paths of many from the "house of Saul" and deserved the death penalty? Yes. Thus, it is once again impossible to use this passage to "prove" that God accepted human sacrifice.

And... Jesus wasn't merely human. If He were, then His sacrifice would have also been a temporary one because one human life couldn't possibly cover the sins of the multitudes who ever existed. Neither could one finite human life atone for sin against an infinite God. The only viable sacrifice must be an infinite one, which means only God Himself could atone for the sins of mankind. Only God Himself, an infinite Being, could pay the penalty owed to Himself. This is why God had to become a Man and dwell among men (John 1:14). No other sacrifice would suffice.

33.) Who was Joseph's father? Matthew 1:16 vs. Luke 3:23

"The second thing is that this genealogy differs in significant ways from the genealogy in Matthew. Why? Most Bible scholars believe that Luke gives the genealogy of Mary (who was also of the royal Davidic line), while Matthew traces the family of Joseph. Thus by both His mother and His earthly father, Jesus had a right to the throne of Israel.

Jacob was Joseph's father. Heli was Mary's father. Since there was no Greek word for "son-in-law," Joseph was called the "son of Heli" by marriage to Mary, Heli's daughter.

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